Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah – India’s lethal pace bowlers

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have turned into match winners for India in limited overs cricket. They both form a lethal opening new ball pair and are excellent at the top and during the slog overs too. The Indian duo are one of the best bowling pairs in limited overs cricket in the world currently. Kumar has been potent and picks up vital wickets during the power play. This is added boost for India who benefit from the initial breakthrough and put the opponents on the back foot early in the game. While Bumrah is a player with an unorthodox action who has the ability to bowl yorkers at the right time. Due to his action, batsmen are unable to read the delivery and end up being bowled over by him. He has also developed into a brilliant death over specialist. Here’s a look at the contributions from two of India’s most accurate pace bowlers.

ODI

Overall Figures

PLAYER

MATCHES

OVERS

RUNS

WICKETS

BEST

ECON

AVG

SR

JASPRIT BUMRAH

28

242.5

1159

52

5/27

4.77

22.29

28.02

BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR

78

633.1

3130

85

5/42

4.94

36.82

44.69

If we look at the table in terms of wickets Bhuvneshwar has more wickets than Bumrah, but Bumrah has played 50 matches lesser than him. Both these players has economy below 5 which is a good sign for any team. Bumrah has a good strike rate and average when compared Bhuvneshwar.

Performance in Home/Away matches

Jasprit Bumrah

MATCHES

OVERS

RUNS

WICKETS

BEST

ECON

AVG

SR

HOME

14

121.4

663

22

3/35

5.45

30.14

33.18

AWAY

14

121.1

496

30

5/27

4.09

16.53

24.23

Bumrah has played equal number of matches in away and home conditions. He has performed very well away from home as he have 8 wickets more than what he has picked in Home. His strike rate and average are very impressive away from home.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

MATCHES

OVERS

RUNS

WICKETS

BEST

ECON

AVG

SR

HOME

33

290.5

1553

34

3/9

5.34

45.68

51.32

AWAY

45

342.2

1577

51

5/42

4.61

30.92

40.27

Kumar has played more matches away than at home. His records are impressive in away conditions as he has the ability to trouble the batsmen with his swing and extra pace. Bhuvi’s strike rate and average are stronger away from home.

Performance in winning causes

The value of a player depends on whether he is able to guide his team to win the match for his team.

PLAYER

MATCHES

OVERS

RUNS

WICKETS

BEST

ECON

AVG

SR

JASPRIT BUMRAH

23

194.5

880

47

5/27

4.51

18.72

24.8

BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR

46

367

1581

64

5/42

4.3

24.7

34.4

Out of the 28 matches Bumrah has played for India, 23 have resulted in win which is a good sign as his contribution during victories plays a vital role. Whereas 59% of the matches have resulted in victories when Kumar has played and his performance during victories are better than his overall figures. Both these players has contributed more towards team’s victory with their exceptional bowling performance.

T20I

Overall Figures

PLAYER

MATCHES

OVERS

RUNS

WICKETS

BEST

ECON

AVG

SR

JASPRIT BUMRAH

30

109.1

736

40

3/11

6.74

18.4

16.38

BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR

23

80.4

551

21

3/9

6.83

26.23

23

Bumrah is currently the number 1 ranked bowler in this format. Both these players economy rate is impressive as having economy below 7 in T20 is a great thing. When we look at overall stats Bumrah clearly goes past Kumar in terms of wickets and other parameters. Bhuvi has the knack of keeping the batsmen in check during power play, while he may not pick up wickets at will, choking the batsmen for runs in a boon too.

Performance in Home/Away matches

Jasprit Bumrah

MATCHES

OVERS

RUNS

WICKETS

BEST

ECON

AVG

SR

HOME

16

55.4

370

18

3/14

6.65

20.56

18.56

AWAY

14

53.3

366

22

3/11

6.84

16.64

14.59

Once again Bumrah performance is impressive away. Almost all the parameters are equal in both conditions. This shows his consistency of getting wickets at any condition and proving to be a good asset for his team.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

MATCHES

OVERS

RUNS

WICKETS

BEST

ECON

AVG

SR

HOME

10

33.4

250

11

3/9

7.43

22.72

18.3

AWAY

13

47

301

10

2/8

6.4

30.1

28.2

Kumar’s record away has been very poor when compared to his home records. The only positive that he has in away conditions is his economy as he has able to control the flow of runs in both conditions.

Performance in winning causes

PLAYER

MATCHES

OVERS

RUNS

WICKETS

BEST

ECON

AVG

SR

JASPRIT BUMRAH

21

75

489

31

3/11

6.52

15.77

14.5

BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR

13

44.4

301

14

3/35

6.73

21.5

19.1

21 out of 30 matches have resulted in victory for India when Bumrah has played, whereas 13 out of 21 matches have ended in victory when Bhuvneshwar was playing for India. Both these players have been vital for India during the power play and slog overs. Additionally their ability to pick wickets at regular intervals and stop the run flow hold the team in good stead.

Both these players are true assets for the team. Both players have had more success outside Asia than at home which has been a good sign for India. A great sign for Indian pace bowling that is being spear-headed by two exceptional and young pacers.